March 29, 2026

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: “The arrival of 2,500 Marines and another 2,500 sailors is keeping the number of American troops in the Mideast region at over 50,000 — roughly 10,000 more than usual — as President Trump decides on his next step in his month-old war in Iran. While it is still unclear just what the Marines, from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, will be charged with, U.S. officials say the president is weighing whether to try a larger attack, like venturing to seize an island or other ground as part of Mr. Trump’s effort to open the Strait of Hormuz.”

I still don’t understand why the ceiling height has to be 40 feet. -- Phil Mendelson, chair of the D.C. Council & member of the National Capital Planning Commission ~~~

~~~ Welcome to the McBallroom. It's a Disaster. Emily Badger, et al., of the New York Times report that because Trump's grotesque ballroom has not gone through the review process that even minor public projects do, the Addition That Will Dwarf the White House is an architectural disaster in more ways that you are probably aware. By volume, the "addition" is three times the size of the building it purportedly enhances. The entire front double colonnade is superfluous and serves only to block the light and the view. It includes -- I'm not kidding -- a grand staircase to nowhere. Thank to Akhilleus for the link. The link is a gift link because you should see this. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: My personal suggestion -- and I'm completely serious about this -- is that the minute Trump leaves the White House (one way or the other), the whole monstrosity be dismantled & sent up the Intercoastal to Atlantic City (where it might replace, say, the Taj Mahal). There it could be turned into a multi-story convention center AND it would be a hit with the kind of tourists who go to Atlantic City "for the ambiance," as one woman once told me. 

"... a picture fitting for Fat Hitler's America," -- RAS

~~~ Monica De Anda & Madison Weil of KABC (Los Angeles) News: "Police issued dispersal orders and made arrests hours after thousands of people gathered for a massive  'No Kings' protest in downtown Los Angeles.... After the peaceful rally and march ended, chaos erupted outside of the Federal Detention Center.... According to LAPD, protesters were attempting to tear down a chain-link fence blocking the Metropolitan Detention Center.... Video shows several agitators throwing objects over the fence. Around 5:30 p.m., officers began confiscating items from the crowd and using tear gas to get the crowd under control.... LAPD ultimately ... [took] several people into custody, including a woman dressed as Lady Liberty."

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Brad Reed of Common Dreams: “Organizers called [Saturday's No Kings day] 'the largest single-day nationwide demonstrations in US history,' with an estimate 8 million people coming out for events in communities and cities nationwide.”*

     * Marie: to be fair, Thomas Fuller of the New York Times (linked below) writes, "The No Kings organizers['] ... estimates in some cities were higher than those of local public safety officials."

Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: “In big cities and small towns across the world, protesters gathered for rallies against ... [Donald] Trump and his policies and actions, with the self-stated goal of fighting dictatorship. Demonstrators, including elected officials and community leaders, chanted defiant messages and carried homemade signs that condemned the war in Iran, threats against voting rights and the White House’s mass deportation push, among other topics.” A Washington Post story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ An AP report is here. The AP has posted photos here. (Also linked yesterday.) New York Times photos & videos are here; the link may be a gift link.

Thomas Fuller ;of the New York Times: “Protesters filled streets and town squares across the United States on Saturday at thousands of rallies, the third in a sequence of nationwide, loosely coordinated demonstrations under the banner of 'No Kings.' They came to denounce President Trump and much of his second-term agenda, wielding signs and chants about issues such as mass deportation, restrictions on voting, attacks on diversity and two matters that have suddenly moved to the fore: the war in Iran and the soaring gas prices that have resulted from it.... The demonstrations stretched across the country, from above the Arctic Circle (Kotzebue, Alaska: population 3,000) to the tropics, in Puerto Rico. There were also 39 international No Kings rallies, according to organizers.... [Minnesota's] Twin Cities were a focal point of the day’s protests.... Jane Fonda, an icon of activism against the Vietnam War, addressed the crowd, and Bruce Springsteen took to the stage to perform 'Streets of Minneapolis,' which he wrote as a tribute to the city and its defiance to the federal immigration crackdown.” ~~~

MEANWHILE, lots of empty seats at CPAC.

Brad Reed of Common Dreams: “Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, said on Saturday that a nationwide general strike is being planned for May 1 that will be modeled on the day of action residents of Minnesota organized in January against the brutality carried out by federal immigration enforcement officials. Appearing at the flagship No Kings rally in Minneapolis, Levin praised the strength shown by the Minnesota protesters in the face of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) siege of their city this year, and said his organization wanted to replicate it across the country.... 'On May 1, on May Day, we are saying, “No business as usual,’” he said. 'No work, no school, no shopping. We’re going to show up and say we’re putting workers over billionaires and kings.'”

The New York Times' liveblog of developments in the Iran war are here. From the pinned item at 5:30 am ET: “Tehran was hit with an intense wave of airstrikes on Saturday that damaged residential neighborhoods and struck a prestigious university, according to Iranian media and aid groups, as Israel and the United States kept up aerial attacks they said were aimed at crippling Iran’s industry and its ability to keep fighting. Early Sunday, the Israeli military said it had carried out strikes on the Iranian capital a day earlier, targeting weapons storage and production sites, temporary command centers, air defense systems and observation posts used by the Iranian regime. The bombardment, among the heaviest single-day waves of strikes recorded since the war began a month ago, came as an expeditionary force of 2,500 U.S. Marines attached to a group of ships equipped for amphibious assault arrived in the Middle East.”

Sammy Westfall, et al., of the Washington Post: “Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen launched an attack against Israel on Saturday for the first time since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran a month ago, an intervention that amounted to a widening of the conflict and that brings the potential for further disruption of global trade and markets.... No casualties were reported.” (Also linked yesterday.)  

Troops on the Ground. Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, U.S. officials said, as thousands of American soldiers and Marines arrive in the Middle East for what could become a dangerous new phase of the war should ... Donald Trump choose to escalate. Any potential ground operation would fall short of a full-scale invasion and could instead involve raids by a mixture of Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops, said the officials.... Such a mission could expose U.S. personnel to an array of threats, including Iranian drones and missiles, ground fire and improvised explosives.” Update: the link has been changed to a gift link.

AP photo. Look at this guy.
There's something wrong here.

Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: “...  longtime norms are being upended by the proselytizing Christian campaign of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, say multiple former high-ranking military officials and experts on religion and law. Rather than boosting cohesion through a more universal spiritual uplift, they say, the new approach violates the Constitution and undermines the bonds of mutual respect between troops that are essential, especially in wartime. Every month at the Pentagon, Hegseth hosts evangelical worship services that legal experts say are unprecedented. His social media profile and public comments routinely espouse his understanding of Christianity, which is one that would dominate American life and cast those who disagree with him as God’s enemies. He has brought clergy from his small Christian denomination to preach at the Pentagon, including a prominent pastor who says women shouldn’t have the right to vote And in recent weeks, the war with Muslim-majority Iran has only made Hegseth’s approach more stark. On Wednesday at the Pentagon, Hegseth prayed for U.S. troops to inflict 'overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy … in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ.' Later that day, his department announced military chaplains would no longer wear their rank on their uniform and instead would wear religious insignia.”

Israel Targets & Kills Journalists Who Support Hezbollah. Euan Ward of the New York Times: “An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Saturday killed two prominent Lebanese television journalists and a cameraman, according to their news organizations and Lebanese officials. The attack was condemned by the country’s president and rights groups, and it raised questions about the scope of Israel’s targets. The Israeli military said it had targeted Ali Choeib, a correspondent for Al-Manar, a Lebanese television network owned by Hezbollah. The military accused him of being an intelligence operative for the Iran-backed militant group, but did not respond to requests for evidence to support that claim. Fatima Ftouni, a correspondent with Al-Mayadeen, another Lebanese broadcaster whose editorial line is generally supportive of Hezbollah, and Mohammad Ftouni, a cameraman, were also killed in the strike, according to Al-Mayadeen and Al-Manar. The three were traveling together in a car close to the southern town of Jezzine at the time of the attack, the outlets said.”

Trump's BFF Putin Is Helping Iran Target U.S. Troops. Raf Sanchez & Charlene Gubash of NBC News: “Russia took satellite images of a U.S. air base in Saudi Arabia three times in the days before Iran attacked the site and wounded American troops, according to a summary of Ukrainian intelligence shared with NBC News by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In an interview in the Gulf nation of Qatar on Saturday, Zelenskyy said he was '100%' confident Russia was sharing such intelligence with Iran to help target U.S. forces across the Middle East.... Zelenskyy said that based on Ukraine’s experience, Russia’s repeated photographing of installations over several days is an indication of attack planning.” MB: Remember that Trump is insisting Ukraine give away huge chunks of its territory to Russia, a country that is aiding & abetting a U.S. enemy-at-war.

Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: “President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine hailed his Middle East tour to promote anti-drone technologies as a success, saying on Saturday that he had negotiated air defense agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In the Mideast conflict, Ukraine has sought to shift its image from a recipient of military aid to a supplier. [Mr. Zelensky] said he had also discussed future Ukrainian purchases of energy from the Middle East as Ukraine’s own natural gas industry had been battered by Russian strikes.” 

Elon Musk, Man of International Diplomacy. Edward Wong, et al., of the New York Times: “Elon Musk participated in a phone call on Tuesday with ... [Donald] Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, an unusual appearance by a private citizen on a call between two heads of state during a wartime crisis.... It is unclear why Mr. Musk was on the call or whether he spoke. His companies have taken on significant investment from sovereign wealth funds in countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Mr. Musk has also long coveted a greater commercial presence in India. And SpaceX, his private rocket company, has been considering an initial public offering later this year, which could be thrown into turmoil if global economic conditions worsen. The call, American and Indian officials have said, was about the escalating crisis in the Middle East, and in particular the Iranian military’s control of the Strait of Hormuz....” 

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: “As everyone tries to make sense of this more belligerent Trump, just remember: He’s still 'Access Hollywood' Trump. He continues his amoral, pseudo-macho posturing — just with a bigger stage and the biggest weapons.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Retribution Campaign, Ctd. FBI Targets Swalwell. Edward Wong & Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “Trump administration officials have ordered F.B.I. agents to gather documents about a decade-old investigation into a Democratic congressman and his ties to a suspected Chinese spy, according to people familiar with the matter. The effort has alarmed law enforcement officials who said they feared the material could be released publicly to smear the lawmaker, Representative Eric Swalwell, a prominent critic of ...[Donald] Trump who is now running for governor of California. The investigation dates from more than a decade ago, when F.B.I. counterintelligence agents looked into a Chinese woman, Christine Fang, or Fang Fang, who assisted Mr. Swalwell with fund-raising. The F.B.I. concluded the investigation, and the Justice Department did not bring any criminal charges. In recent days, scores of F.B.I. agents and other personnel in California were instructed to gather the documents on Mr. Swalwell and Ms. Fang.... Supervisors advised the agents to lightly redact the records to obscure some sensitive information and told them the files would be shared with senior administration officials in Washington.” ~~~

     ~~~ Perry Stein of the Washington Post: “FBI Director Kash Patel ... recently dispatch[ed] agents in the bureau’s San Francisco office to quickly redact the files before they are released publicly despite no evidence of wrongdoing by Swalwell.... It is highly unusual for the FBI to release case files tied to a probe that did not result in criminal charges.... FBI leaders have recently suggested in internal discussions that the government could try to arrange for Fang to get a U.S. visa in exchange for speaking with FBI agents about [Swalwell].... It would be highly unorthodox to grant a visa to a person suspected of being an intelligence agent for a foreign superpower.... The lengths that Patel’s circle is going to in the bid to pursue a political foe of the president have raised alarms within the bureau, where some officials fear that releasing the files ... could compromise law enforcement sources and investigatory methods, making it harder for the FBI to gain trust with potential witnesses.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Too bad "officials" don't seem concerned about the big problem here: using the Justice Department to bring down a political foe of the president*. Their narrow focus on their own operational concerns is disturbing.

Stephen Miller Hits a New Low. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “In 1982, in Plyler v. Doe, a 5-to-4 majority of the Supreme Court held that it was a violation of the equal protection clause [of the 14th Amendment] for states to deny to undocumented children the free public education they provide to legal immigrants’ children, who are themselves citizens. As Justice William Brennan wrote in his opinion for the court, 'The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is not confined to the protection of citizens.' [Stephen] Miller, whose crusade against immigration knows no bounds, wants Republican-led states to test the court’s commitment to its precedent.... The effect of this change, if it were to become law, would be to mark about a million children as members of a subordinate class — a lower caste excluded from mainstream society.... The ... 14th Amendment, properly understood, is additive to the 13th. It flows from the vision of Gettysburg and Appomattox, of the Republican Party before, during and after the war: a society of equals....The Supreme Court would eventually trim and limit this vision, eventually going, in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, as far as to permit the kind of subordination that the 14th Amendment was explicitly written to forbid.... Both Miller and the MAGA right are engaged in the same kind of work.... They want to gut the 14th Amendment....”

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: Jerome Adams, Donald Trump's first surgeon general, is “trying to stop Trump’s nominee to be his successor, Casey Means, from being confirmed as the nation’s top doctor. Means’s nomination has stalled in the Senate, where several Republicans have questioned her stance on vaccines, her pushes against the medical establishment and her medical credentials. Some lawmakers and staff have noted that her medical license is currently inactive. Nearly 11 months after her nomination, it is not clear how it moves forward.... ;No past surgeon general has come forward to defend Means as she fights for Senate confirmation. Instead, Adams and others have spent the past year questioning her credentials, noting that she left her surgical residency in its final year and went on to decry the medical establishment and pursue functional medicine, which focuses on lifestyle interventions to tackle the root causes of chronic diseases.”

GOP in Chaos. We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “Eight months away from elections that will decide if they keep control of Congress and preserve their governing trifecta, House and Senate Republicans have identified the enemy — and it is one another. A meltdown in relations between the two G.O.P.-led chambers caused the embarrassing collapse on Friday of a Senate-passed proposal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security before lawmakers raced out of town on a two-week recess. It left no clear path for resolving the crisis that has led to airport chaos and workers without paychecks. And with ... [Donald] Trump seemingly cheering on the intraparty squabble from the White House, it also highlighted an undercurrent of tension and division coursing through Republican ranks that has burst to the surface at the least politically opportune time.” ~~~

~~~ Stephen Groves, et al., of the AP try to explain how the deal negotiated and passed in the Senate collapsed in the House. MB: This isn't a mystery. What the journalists never say is that if Mike Johnson had shown the guts to put the Senate bill on the floor, as it stood, it would have passed with votes to spare. Instead, Bible Mike caved to Trump & his grievance caucus & put a bill on the floor that Democrats and even some Republicans would not vote for (and the Senate would not pass, either). Mike can count. He knew what would happen. But he put his own interests first. ~~~

     ~~~ Bible Mike's Betrayal (Before the Rooster Crowed Three Times [Matthew 26:34.]) Don Moynihan: "Mike Johnson had a pretty clear choice: A) Reclaim the power of the purse for Congress by passing broadly popular legislation. B) Allow the President not only to dictate appropriations, but also to engage in a potentially illegal scheme to pay TSA employees to deal with public anger. Johnson chose B.... [Trump's memo order DHS to pay TSA employees] raises some uncomfortable questions for Trump, beyond the obvious one of 'where is the money coming from?' Another is 'if you had this power, why are you waiting until now to pay the TSA employees?' Are we in a country where the King only pays his employees after they walk off the job, are living in cars, or become dependent on food banks?... Trump keeps reminding us of why its a bad idea for a single person to control how public money is spent, a point that the framers were especially aware of when they designed the American constitution." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The title of Moynihan's blog -- "Can We Still Govern?" -- has never been more appropriate. As of today, the answer is "Nope." BTW, to prove Trump should not be trusted with our money, Moynihan posted the chart below, which conveys statistics RAS raised last week:

Trump & the Trumpettes Break A Record. Brennan Leach & Raquel Uribe of NBC News: "The ongoing funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security crossed into new territory Sunday when it became the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history. The DHS shutdown is now in its 44th day, breaking the previous record when the department and the rest of the federal government went without funding from October until mid-November. This time around, the rest of the federal agencies and departments are funded."

Chris Hippensteel, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has moved to bypass Congress to restore the pay of airport safety screeners, who have missed two full paychecks, but relief has yet to arrive for travelers. On Friday, more Transportation Security Administration employees called out of work than on any other day of the partial government shutdown. Conditions in airport security lines have deteriorated since Feb. 14, when Congress allowed funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees T.S.A., to lapse during an impasse over reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Since then, T.S.A. employees have been forced to work without pay, leading thousands of workers to call out and hundreds to quit altogether. With staffing slashed, wait times for security have stretched on for hours at some airports. Lines have spilled outside terminals. Desperate travelers have missed flights. And that was before Friday set a new record.”

Sophie Brams of the Hill: “A discharge petition for a resolution that would require the Trump administration to extend temporary legal protections for migrants from Haiti earned enough signatures on Friday to force a vote on the House floor. Rep. Marie Gleusenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) was the 218th signature on the petition, which also secured support from four Republicans: Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (Fla.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.) and Don Bacon (Neb.). 'I’m so grateful for our broad coalition that made this moment possible,' Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), the petition’s sponsor, said in a video posted on the social platform X.”

We're Outta Here. GOP Is Back in Herbert Hoover Territory. Ashley Wu & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “The number of Republicans departing the House this cycle is one of the highest since 1930, according to Brookings Vital Statistics on Congress. This cycle’s Republican departures are surpassed only by 2018, the midterm election year during ... [Donald] Trump’s first term when his party was also bracing for big losses. (The G.O.P. lost 40 House seats, and the majority, that year.)” 

Nathan Layne of Reuters: "Vice President JD Vance was the Conservative Political Action Conference's choice this year to be the next Republican ‌nominee for U.S. president, according to a straw poll released on Saturday. About 53% of the more than 1,600 attendees who voted in the poll chose Vance. Secretary of State Marco Rubio came in second with 35% at CPAC, a key annual gathering for Republican lawmakers, activists and presidential hopefuls." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Of course I don't mean to suggest that the reasons the CPAC crowd chose Vance are extraordinarily foolish, but here's how one of them put it to Reuters: "I wasn't real sure about him at first, you know, like he's inexperienced, but I've seen everything he's ​done... He's a real, genuine person, and he's also willing to proclaim his faith in Jesus Christ in public." 

Marie: I occasionally complain that we have too few excellent orators today. Maybe our politicians just haven't met the right teachers: ~~~